AuthorTopic: OCI Chances (Read 2595 times)

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of what my chances are at OCI. I got to a T3 school. I am top 1% (Between the 1-3 class rank range). I have graded onto law review (and have accepted). I was just wondering if this is 'good' enough to get a job through OCI. Or, am I basically out of luck by being at a T3 school?

I am hoping that most of the firms take some (albeit, very, very few) students from T3/T4s.

Lastly, how much of the interview is based upon your resume (rank/grades/etc) vs. your demeanor and interview 'performance'? I know its really hard to gauge one way or the other, but if you had to guess which is more important? (Or is it, your resume gets you the interview and your 'performance' gets you the job?).

I don't know about the first half of your question, but I can help with the second.

If you've been given a screening interview, then you're good enough to have an offer, period. There are a few exceptions, but recruiters generally have basic criteria they use in weeding through resumes. Anyone who gets an OCI interview has the resume to receive an offer. The screening interviews with recruiting attorneys and call-backs are 100% personality, demeanor, etc.

If they are coming to your school for OCI, then isn't it safe to assume that they would be willing to hire someone in the top 1% of the class? The fact that you go to a T3 school likely limits the number of firms that will come to your school and will limit the number of offers they give out at your school, but since you are ranked so high, you are one of the few people that will probably get a shot.

As to your second question I can't help you. I went through the OCI and call back BS in the winter and still have no idea what the firms are really looking for.

I concur with eli250. If the firms are coming to your school in the first place then of course they would want to interview the cream of the crop from that school. The problem arises when a T3 or T4 doesn't have that many firms interviewing; or, if you are at such a school and fall out of the top 10% or something around that.

I disagree about whether simply getting and OCI interview means you've "made the grade" to get an offer. For example, generally firms will interview around 18 people at a school. Each interviewer is then supposed to submit anywhere from 2-6 people they want to bring back for a call-back. Gradees still play a large role in this calculus.